Jon Repetti, a PhD candidate in American literature, discusses Lacan's Seminar 11, exploring topics like primal life instincts, personal analysis vs academic pursuits, Freudian analysis, Lacanian theory application, knowledge origins in psychoanalysis, growth of Lacan's Seminar, gender envy, concept of the drive, transference in psychoanalysis, and publishing dissertations.
The drive is distinct from biological needs, demanding work on the psychic apparatus for release.
Language connects the body through minimal units of signification like sound tones and fundamental fantasies.
Lacan views the drive as constant pressure for psychic energy release, distinct from fulfilling biological needs.
Aim and goal in the drive differentiate between demanding work on the psyche and directing psychic energy towards fulfillment.
Deep dives
Difference Between Drive and Need
Lacan emphasizes the distinction between the drive and biological needs. Biological needs like hunger and thirst are rhythmic and based on somatic requirements, whereas drives are constant and not directly tied to bodily rhythms. The drive is a demand for work on the psychic apparatus, exerting pressure for release, which differs from the cyclical nature of needs like hunger. Lacan suggests that the drive is not organic and requires a minimum of signification to exist, highlighting the mutual constitution between the drive and the fundamental fantasy.
Linking Signification and the Somatic
Lacan focuses on linking signification to the body through concepts like the sound tone and the fundamental fantasy, which are minimal units of signification that connect language and the body. Language introduces the infinite into human experience by allowing references to absent things, enabling the organization of behavior and sociality. The sound tone and fundamental fantasy serve as points of connection between language and the body, facilitating the existence of the drive through their mutual constitution.
Energetic Model of the Drive
In exploring the energetic model of the drive, Lacan tackles the concept of the drive as a demand for work on the psychic apparatus, similar to a pressure or demand for release. Contrasting with Freud's understanding of the pleasure principle and homeostasis, Lacan delves into how the drive represents a constant demand not restricted by biological rhythms. Lacan dissects the aim of the drive, highlighting it as a pressure that necessitates action to address psychic energy buildup and navigate away from somatic biological needs.
Aim versus Goal Conceptualization
Lacan's delineation between aim and goal redefines Freud's notion of satisfaction as the drive's aim. While Freud views satisfaction as the release of tension, Lacan separates aim into a demand for work on the psychic apparatus and a goal to direct psychic energy. The aim of the drive is characterized by pressure for release and constant demand, distinct from the cyclic nature of fulfilling biological needs, highlighting the drive's dynamic nature amidst the aim to find release and fulfillment in the psychoanalytic context.
Understanding Freud's Concept of Object Fixation
Freud's concept delves into the fluidity of object fixation in drives, emphasizing how objects are interchangeable in certain neurotic formations. The drive's object, such as in oral drives, can be substituted with various items, showcasing a mechanistic repetition detached from conscious nourishment. This interchangeable nature highlights the object's designation as an algebraic variable open to diverse replacements, illustrating the defensive structure it can form.
Exploring Freud and Lacan's Views on Fetishism
Freud and Lacan's perspectives on fetishism shed light on the intricate psychological defenses individuals create. Freud emphasizes the fetish as a defensive structure utilized to combat overwhelming sexual desires, thereby calming anxieties. In contrast, Lacan's interpretation integrates the notion of traversing the fantasy, noting how fetishes contribute to subjectively destitute experiences aiming for self-recognition amidst radical non-recognition.
Reflecting on Sublimation and Lacan's Notion of Transference
Lacan's analysis of sublimation challenges Freud's desexualization approach, equating talking with an act of equal significance to intercourse. Sublimation and transference are essential in the subjective reconstruction process, aiming to introduce a radical form of recognition. Through traversing the fantasy, individuals engage in a process of self-confrontation and realization within the psychoanalytic space.
This week, Jon Repetti joined Coop and Taylor for a discussion on Lacan's Seminar 11.
Jon is finishing a phd in American literature at Princeton, focusing on naturalism, radical empiricism, and psychoanalysis.
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